


brave new world

by cleardishwashers



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, Post-Graduation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22531327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleardishwashers/pseuds/cleardishwashers
Summary: jack grows upknowing,but the first person he says it out loud to is shitty.
Relationships: Eric "Bitty" Bittle & Shitty Knight, Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, Larissa "Lardo" Duan/Shitty Knight, Shitty Knight & Jack Zimmermann
Comments: 22
Kudos: 220





	brave new world

It’s always been something he’s  _ known. _

To be fair, he didn’t think it was out of the ordinary until he heard the word  _ faggot _ for the first time. He asked his father what it meant, and Bob had pushed out a halting explanation of what bigotry was and why an eight-year-old had to hear a word like that. “Oh,” Jack had said, and that was the end of that.

(He’s pretty sure he saw his dad yelling at the guy afterwards.)

So he grew up  _ knowing, _ and then he met Kent, and then the expectations of the world invaded the one place he thought was safe. He had to hide. And Kent didn’t make it better like Jack thought he would— he just pushed the hyper-competitiveness to the max, like they were a car squealing down I-95.

And eventually, they had to crash.

Jack picked up the pieces by himself. He shut himself away from everyone, trying to fit the jagged edges of himself back together. This was his fault. His mess to clean up. He could never, ever let this happen again.

He starts at Samwell and he doesn’t hide this time— he has nothing  _ to _ hide. He goes to class. He goes to practice. He doesn’t talk to anyone.

But someone makes it his mission to talk to  _ him, _ and eventually Jack finds himself talking back. Shitty is boundlessly energetic, and finally, a year and a half later, Jack works up the courage to actually say it for the first time. “Shits?” he says, his voice thin and high like that coyote on TV who always runs off cliffs and doesn’t fall until he looks down, “I’m— not straight. Uh. Bisexual.”

He looks down, at the solid ground under his feet.

“Shit, bro,” Shitty says, “thanks for telling me.” And then he offers out his knuckles for a fist bump. “Bi gang.”

Jack knocks his knuckles against Shitty’s, and then— “You— you are, too?”

“‘Chyeah, dude. Jesus, my dad had a fit about that one.”

Jack snorts at that, because it seems like that is the right thing to do, and Shitty slaps him on the back. “Seriously, man, thanks for trusting me with that. That’s dope.”

“Yeah,” Jack says. It feels like he can breathe a little easier now, like there was something microscopic in his airway that’s now been cleared. “You’re— thanks for being so cool about this.”

“Man, I’m always down to accept people,” Shitty says, pulling Jack into a loose headlock and ruffling his hair. “You know, you’re the fifth person that’s come out to me this week?”

“Seriously?” Jack asks, smiling a little. “Well, I’m not surprised. You’ve got the whole…  _ accepting _ thing down pat.”

“I know. I am a benevolent force of nature. Speaking of, did you do the reading for that enviro lecture?”

And Shitty goes off on a tangent about indigenous tribes in the Amazon, and Jack listens, and then he is struck by the thought that  _ hey, _ Shitty is his best friend, and letting people in wasn’t as terrible as he thought it would be.

…

Shitty looks down at his phone, because it has buzzed five times in the past three minutes and everybody’s too busy doing graduation things to text so something  _ big _ must be going down, and he reads the five new texts displayed on his phone.

_ light of my life my shining star: Hi Shits _

_ light of my life my shining star: If you’re free sometime text me back I know you’re out celebrating right now _

_ light of my life my shining star: Uh _

_ light of my life my shining star: I kissed Bittle _

_ light of my life my shining star: Any advice? _

Shitty’s eyes go wide, and he hastily excuses himself from the table. Lardo sends him a  _ please-don’t-leave-me-here-alone _ look and he flashes a glance first at her and then at his phone—  _ SOMETHING-HUGE-WENT-DOWN-SORRY. _ She glares, but she nods, and he scrambles off to the bathroom and calls Jack. The second the ringing noise cuts off— “JACK LAURENT ZIMMERMANN, YOU  _ WHAT?” _ Some prick washing his hands glares at him.

“So you got my texts?”

“YES-I-GOT-YOUR-TEXTS-EXPLAIN-RIGHT-NOW. ALSO CONGRATS,” Shitty tells him, just managing to keep his voice low enough for Hand-Washing-Prick to handle. Although it’s probably a good thing that the guy is washing his hands.

“Uh. I kissed him.”

“ON THE MOUTH?”

“Yes?” Jack says, the  _ where-else-would-I-have-kissed-him _ evident in his tone.

“I feel like it was a valid question!” Shitty exclaims. This time when Hand-Washing-Prick glares at him he glares right back. Hand-Washing-Prick leaves the bathroom, looking sufficiently cowed. “But I digress. What are you— are you  _ together? _ Are you gonna— what— you—”

“We didn’t really have time to— y’know,  _ talk.” _

“So you kissed him and left.”

“Well, I texted him afterwards.”

“Ignoring the fact that you did not text me immediately, what did you  _ say? _ What did  _ he _ say? Has he replied? How— what—  _ how did this go down?” _

“Uh. I ran back to the Haus after you’d left and he was still there and I kissed him. And then I had to go, so I told him I’d text him, and then I texted him saying that I should’ve done that sooner.”

“Jack Zimmerman, you romantic motherfucker.”

“It wasn’t that— I mean, sure?”

“Has he texted back?”

“Just a blushing emoji?”

_ “Dude.” _ His phone buzzes, and he pulls it away to see a text from Lardo—  _ FJCK U FR ABNADONIGN NE. _ “Shit. I gotta go.  _ Shit. _ Okay, I am calling you later and you are spilling all the details.  _ ALL THE DETAILS, _ Jacques.”

“Yessir,” Jack says.

“And Jack?”

“Yeah, Shits?”

“I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you.” The line goes dead, but not fast enough to stop Shitty from hearing Jack sniffle.

He fires off a text to Lardo—  _ omw back sry— _ and then his phone vibrates again.

It’s Bitty, and he’s calling. Shitty really has no choice.  _ To: bad bitch central: itty bitty bits is calling i will be no less than two minutes i am very sorry. _ He receives a series of knife emojis in response, and he smiles at them before accepting Bitty’s call. He doesn’t even get the chance to open his mouth before Bitty blurts out, “Jack kissed me.”

“And—”

“I kissed him  _ back, _ Shitty.”

“This is a good thing, right?”

“I mean— I— it’s— this is like getting the oven!”

“Shit, Bits, congrats!”

“I didn’t even know he was—  _ not _ straight! He dresses like he’s on his way to rob a Burger King!”

“Stereotyping, but true. And isn’t that the ultimate bisexual outfit?”

“I mean—  _ yeah— _ but— sweet Lord, Shitty, these things are all so  _ complicated.” _

“You like him, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“And he obviously likes you.”

“Yeah.”

“You two crazy kids will be just fine.”

“Lord, I sure hope so. Mother have mercy.”

“Bits. Listen to me. You guys are gonna be great. Call him once you’re done talking to me—” his phone vibrates with another text from Lardo; this time it’s knife emojis  _ and _ gun emojis— “and actually I have to go right now because Lardo might literally murder me if I don’t, so call him. And don’t mention the Burger King thing. And also— he’s a pro athlete now, so don’t wear him out too fast,” Shitty says, grinning wildly.

_ “Shitty!” _ Bitty yells, and he sounds like he’s trying to be affronted but his laugh gives him away.

“Call him!” Shitty yells back, and then he hangs up and bolts out of the restroom because he literally might die if he doesn’t move fast because  _ though she’s tiny she’s fierce _ or whatever the fuck Shakespeare said. Lardo’s shoulders sag in relief when he takes his seat again, and he pretends not to notice it, but he allows himself a little inward smile.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! kudos/comments always appreciated :)) drop me a line at flybittybooty on tumblr!


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